UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-4517

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff Appellee,
v.
ANTHONY BROWN,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Alexandria.
T. S. Ellis, III, Senior
District Judge. (1:03-cr-00612-TSE-1)

Submitted:

February 27, 2015

Decided:

May 6, 2015

Before GREGORY, DUNCAN, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.

Vacated and remanded with instructions by unpublished per curiam

opinion.

Joseph
J.
McCarthy,
DELANEY,
MCCARTHY
&
COLTON,
P.C.,
Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant. Dana J. Boente, United
States Attorney, Morris R. Parker, Jr., Assistant United States
Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:
Anthony

Brown

appeals

from

the

district

courts

order

denying his motion to rescind his plea agreement and withdraw

his guilty plea.

We vacate the order and remand with directions

to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the motion.

We conclude that the existing record does not permit us to
properly perform our appellate review function and signals for
an evidentiary hearing so that the district court can make an
informed determination upon a properly developed record.

We

have always declined to create a rigid rule that would override

a

district

courts

determining
Raines

v.

common

whether
United

an

States,

sense

and

evidentiary
423

F.2d

sound

discretion

hearing
526,

530

must
(4th

when

be

held.

Cir.

1970)

(considering a 28 U.S.C. 2255 (2012) motion challenging the

voluntariness

of

guilty

circumstances

necessitate

an

plea).
evidentiary

However,
hearing

where
to

the

fairly

resolve the issues presented and provide an adequate record for

appellate review, we have required such a hearing.

For these

reasons, the district court should hold an evidentiary hearing

in

order

to

develop

an

adequate

record

upon

which

fully

informed adjudication of Browns motion can be conducted and a

proper appellate review of any judgment may be performed.

We

express no opinion on the merits of the motion based on the

record before us.
2

Accordingly,

the

order

of

the

district

court

is

hereby

vacated and remanded with direction to conduct an evidentiary

hearing on Browns motion.
the appeal as moot.
facts

and

materials

legal
before

We deny Browns motions to expedite

We dispense with oral argument because the

contentions

are

adequately

this

and

argument

court

presented

would

not

in

the

aid

the

decisional process.
VACATED AND REMANDED
WITH INSTRUCTIONS